Thirty years ago Greg Bettenay, along with his father Eric Bettenay, set out to find a location to grow premium grapes.
They had a head start in this quest as Eric had spent many years working for the CSIRO mapping the soils of Western Australia and Greg had an academic background in horticulture, so it is not surprising they ended up with one of the best vineyard sites in the region.
"History had shown the location in the Wilyabrup sub-region of Margaret River to be the ideal and idyllic spot to produce premium wines with character and class," Greg said.
This site was planted in 1989 to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.
Later plantings of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon were established in 1997.
The property now boasts 25 acres under vine with the excess grapes being highly sought after by neighbouring wineries.
In recent years as vines have matured and fruit has increased in intensity, the awards and accolades have been mounting up.
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The 2002 Chardonnay won a trophy for the best Chardonnay at the Sydney boutique wine awards, the 2008 Shiraz won a gold medal at the Great Australian Shiraz Challenge and the 2008 Chardonnay won gold at the Margaret River Wine Show Awards, against some of the biggest names in WA.
In the past 10 years, Bettenay Wines has received more than 40 medals around Australia then in 2012 the family decided to add another speciality to their repertoire.
"We added nougat to our product list as a point of difference and with that came the extension of the existing building," Greg said.
"The extension includes a nougat kitchen and full nougat and wine tasting area maximising the experience for visitors to the premises."
The family like to use local and Australian grown produce where possible.
Greg is also proud of being able to support local events, fundraisers and charities.
"We support Arts Margaret River, Cinefest, Readers & Writers Festival, Biggest Morning Tea, Pink up the Region, Augusta River Festival," he said.
